My daughter’s soccer coach through most of her teen
years had an interesting saying that he said in praise of his players: “Now
that was beautiful soccer!” I had no idea what he meant. What exactly was
beautiful soccer? All soccer looked the same to me – you kick the ball down the
field, you shoot it into the net, you get a goal – so what was I missing? I
realized that in order to understand, I had to learn more about soccer, I had
to find out from him what he was referring to, and I needed to see examples of
what the coach called “beautiful soccer.”
When I asked her coach where I could watch “beautiful soccer,” he suggested watching the Brazilian World Cup team. When I asked for a brief description of what I was looking for as I watched Brazil play, he said to watch how they spread the field, how they pass the ball, and how they work together as a team. So I set out on a search for a new understanding of soccer, and to learn what differentiates “beautiful soccer” from all others. After quite a bit of study, observation and experiencing soccer of all kinds, here is what I found:
1) It is not about the outcome – it didn’t seem to be the end result of the game or of any play that made it something beautiful; instead, it was how it was played (the process) that matters.
2) It involves relationships – beautiful soccer cannot be created by an individual; instead, it is all about how the team works together.
3) It is not easy – the easy road of soccer appears to be individual talent on display; instead, if anything, beautiful soccer may be more difficult to create, requiring coordination and constant movement, practice and discipline, and such a profound connection with those on your team that you sense where your teammates are without seeing and you know where they will be well before they get there.
4) It is simple and clean – my understanding of soccer was simplistic, focused mainly on the obvious; instead, beautiful soccer is deep and meaningful in its simplicity, and graceful and smooth in its execution, focused mainly on what is unseen.
5) It does not always make sense – my simplistic view said go to the goal and score; instead, players of beautiful soccer sometimes go backwards to go forward, sometimes deny themselves the shot for the sake of a higher play, and sometimes wait for support instead of driving ahead alone.
I began to recognize the difference. I was able to identify and even understand what was going on during a beautiful soccer moment. I came to appreciate how wonderful and enjoyable it was to witness such beauty in action. Soon, other soccer paled in comparison. I was able to truly appreciate beautiful soccer because of what I learned.
This experience came to mind as I read Paul’s admonition in Philippians 4: “4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:4-9)
I wondered how many individuals read these words without having any real understanding of what Paul was referring to by whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. We tend to be unsure of what is true. We don’t seem to have any idea of what it means to be noble. We eschew what is right for what is convenient. We embrace what it tolerable instead of what is pure. We equate lovely with physical appearance. We tend to admire those who are self-serving, who capture the spotlight. To us, excellent means easy, and we tend to avoid anything that is difficult. And praiseworthy? We hand out praise without cause, to make ourselves feel better, to appear to be “fair” or to protect a false self-image, or to assure our so-called acceptance by others. So I applied my five precepts of beautiful soccer to Paul’s writing, to see what my experience with soccer had to say about the more global application of whatever is “beautiful”:
1) Paul is not evaluating an outcome – if so, the outcomes in his own life because of his faith would appear to make his belief foolishness; instead, Paul is referring to a state of the heart, an inner transformation that brings great joy and peace.
2) Paul is speaking in relational terms – he points to our connection with God through prayer, and he speaks specifically about his relationship with the brothers and their relationships with him and each other; these are the things that are important.
3) Paul is not saying it will be easy – he explains the need for focus and putting what was learned into practice, but comforts us with the knowledge that God is with us in everything and His peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
4) Paul is referring to what is simple and clean – peace and joy, and the presence of God with us; however, these truths are profound in their simplicity and depth, and they are anything but simplistic, like a list of things to do would be.
5) Paul is not suggesting something that makes sense – in fact, he is going contrary to how we normally live our lives, with a self-centered, self-protecting, and self-serving focus.
If you think about it, the cross doesn’t make sense. It certainly was not easy. It is simple (a death) yet profound (victory over death). It is undoubtedly the greatest expression of love known. And it results in a process – a process of ongoing connection and relationship with Jesus that transforms our hearts and creates in us a new life.
I encourage you, as I did when seeking to understand “beautiful soccer,” to seek Jesus to reveal to your heart what is genuinely true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. I hope you will focus on those things He reveals and put what He teaches you into practice, as Paul suggested. I pray that you find through that relationship the peace that guards your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, and that you will always know Jesus is partnering with you in everything in your life. As a result, I pray you will begin to personally and deeply understand, and experience, the beauty of this kind of relationship with Jesus. This relationship is worthy of our complete and undivided focus - "think about such things."
When I asked her coach where I could watch “beautiful soccer,” he suggested watching the Brazilian World Cup team. When I asked for a brief description of what I was looking for as I watched Brazil play, he said to watch how they spread the field, how they pass the ball, and how they work together as a team. So I set out on a search for a new understanding of soccer, and to learn what differentiates “beautiful soccer” from all others. After quite a bit of study, observation and experiencing soccer of all kinds, here is what I found:
1) It is not about the outcome – it didn’t seem to be the end result of the game or of any play that made it something beautiful; instead, it was how it was played (the process) that matters.
2) It involves relationships – beautiful soccer cannot be created by an individual; instead, it is all about how the team works together.
3) It is not easy – the easy road of soccer appears to be individual talent on display; instead, if anything, beautiful soccer may be more difficult to create, requiring coordination and constant movement, practice and discipline, and such a profound connection with those on your team that you sense where your teammates are without seeing and you know where they will be well before they get there.
4) It is simple and clean – my understanding of soccer was simplistic, focused mainly on the obvious; instead, beautiful soccer is deep and meaningful in its simplicity, and graceful and smooth in its execution, focused mainly on what is unseen.
5) It does not always make sense – my simplistic view said go to the goal and score; instead, players of beautiful soccer sometimes go backwards to go forward, sometimes deny themselves the shot for the sake of a higher play, and sometimes wait for support instead of driving ahead alone.
I began to recognize the difference. I was able to identify and even understand what was going on during a beautiful soccer moment. I came to appreciate how wonderful and enjoyable it was to witness such beauty in action. Soon, other soccer paled in comparison. I was able to truly appreciate beautiful soccer because of what I learned.
This experience came to mind as I read Paul’s admonition in Philippians 4: “4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:4-9)
I wondered how many individuals read these words without having any real understanding of what Paul was referring to by whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. We tend to be unsure of what is true. We don’t seem to have any idea of what it means to be noble. We eschew what is right for what is convenient. We embrace what it tolerable instead of what is pure. We equate lovely with physical appearance. We tend to admire those who are self-serving, who capture the spotlight. To us, excellent means easy, and we tend to avoid anything that is difficult. And praiseworthy? We hand out praise without cause, to make ourselves feel better, to appear to be “fair” or to protect a false self-image, or to assure our so-called acceptance by others. So I applied my five precepts of beautiful soccer to Paul’s writing, to see what my experience with soccer had to say about the more global application of whatever is “beautiful”:
1) Paul is not evaluating an outcome – if so, the outcomes in his own life because of his faith would appear to make his belief foolishness; instead, Paul is referring to a state of the heart, an inner transformation that brings great joy and peace.
2) Paul is speaking in relational terms – he points to our connection with God through prayer, and he speaks specifically about his relationship with the brothers and their relationships with him and each other; these are the things that are important.
3) Paul is not saying it will be easy – he explains the need for focus and putting what was learned into practice, but comforts us with the knowledge that God is with us in everything and His peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
4) Paul is referring to what is simple and clean – peace and joy, and the presence of God with us; however, these truths are profound in their simplicity and depth, and they are anything but simplistic, like a list of things to do would be.
5) Paul is not suggesting something that makes sense – in fact, he is going contrary to how we normally live our lives, with a self-centered, self-protecting, and self-serving focus.
If you think about it, the cross doesn’t make sense. It certainly was not easy. It is simple (a death) yet profound (victory over death). It is undoubtedly the greatest expression of love known. And it results in a process – a process of ongoing connection and relationship with Jesus that transforms our hearts and creates in us a new life.
I encourage you, as I did when seeking to understand “beautiful soccer,” to seek Jesus to reveal to your heart what is genuinely true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. I hope you will focus on those things He reveals and put what He teaches you into practice, as Paul suggested. I pray that you find through that relationship the peace that guards your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, and that you will always know Jesus is partnering with you in everything in your life. As a result, I pray you will begin to personally and deeply understand, and experience, the beauty of this kind of relationship with Jesus. This relationship is worthy of our complete and undivided focus - "think about such things."
